DOVER — A proposal to rebuild aquatics in the Garrison City was proposed to the City Council — a project that could bring a 47,000-square-foot facility nicknamed ‘The Jenny’ to Maglaras Park.

Seacoast Swimming representatives proposed the Jenny Thompson Aquatics Center on Wednesday night, a $14 million project, stating it will provide a home for all levels of swimmers and that the facility “would last.”

For the past three years, Tim Paiva, president of Seacoast Swimming, member of the Dover Pool Advisory Committee and a resident of Dover for 27 years, has been working to improve the Garrison City’s pool program.

“Building ‘The Jenny’ will add to the City of Dover,” he said, adding that it will be a destination for all of New England and could be the future home of the New England Swimming and Diving Hall of Fame.

The proposed building will hold both a 50-meter 22-lane pool and a teaching pool. The 50-meter pool could provide classes for diving, scuba, water polo, kayaking and synchronized swimming. The teaching pool would provide five lanes and be used for swimming lessons and senior fitness, along with aquatic fitness and rehabilitation swimming. Paiva’s goals are to create an aquatic center that provides greater access to new and enhanced aquatic programming for the entire community with fitness, rehab, special needs, youth, recreational and therapeutic programs.

Should the center be built, it will also host competitive swimming events throughout the year such as USA swimming meets, New England swimming championships, high school meets, University of New Hampshire Invitational and recreational meets and will honor the Olympic legacy of Jenny Thompson. They are estimating seating for 1,000 spectators.

“The bottom line is, I’m scared,” Jared Felker, head coach and executive director of Seacoast Swimming said about what might happen if the pools are not updated in Dover. “I’m scared to not be able to give the kids the opportunities I had when I was a child.”

Felker drove from Portland, Maine, in grade school to swim in Dover and went on to swim at the college level. The indoor pool in the city was built in 1968 and the outdoor pool was built in the 1970s. Both pools, according to Paiva, have old and outdated technology and are no longer cost effective.

“We’ve become the center for competitive swimming in the Northeast,” he said, and he hopes to keep it that way.

Paiva said this center will bring a whole new way of thinking about aquatics to the greater Seacoast area.

“People are asking us to do this because they are truly tired of paying $300 to go to Boston to use the facilities there,” he said, adding that colleges there are the closest pools to Dover that provide the necessities swimmers need to train.

“This would be just another reason for people to come to Dover and stay a while,” he said, also adding that depending on where it is located, it could make Dover a downtown sport center, sharing amenities with other athletic fields and facilities.

Site possibilities, at this time, are Maglaras Park or the current location of the Jenny Thompson pool. Representatives do recommend Maglaras over the current pool’s location, because of more available space and construction advantages.

“The question is, ‘What can we do in design and programming and management to make this a viable long term facility that is going to reduce cost to operate and generate revenue and make it a win-win?’” President of Isaac Sports Group and advocate for the project Stu Isaac said.

“I think the city would win-win,” Deputy Mayor Robert Carrier said. “The existing pools, the timing is going against them.”

Carrier is concerned how the representatives will come up with the $14 million to build the facility, as this project is proposed to not cost taxpayers any additional money and be at zero cost to the city.

“I like the location of Maglaras Park,” Carrier said. “It would bring people into the city from outside. I think you have a real nice plan.”

Mayor Dean Trefethen said the project would probably not begin to be constructed, if approved, for at least another five years. Construction would then take 14 to 18 months, according to Isaac.

The next steps for Seacoast Swimming are to continue to rally support for the project, build sponsorships and finalize the site and plans and raise money, Paiva said. City Manager Michael Joyal said the councilors next step would be to propose a resolution and hear from residents.

“We can’t do too much more unless we know the council is backing us,” Paiva said. “We would hope that you as a city council would endorse the idea of us moving forward with this project.”

City Councilors William Garrison, Catherine Cheney, Dorothea Hooper, Karen Weston and Michael Crago vocalized that they were excited about the plan and the representatives’ enthusiasm. Initial concerns raised were what would happen to the existing pools and, if Maglaras Park was chosen as the location, what would happen to the skateboard park?

“I’d like you to progress and come back to the council with more information,” Carrier said.